Program: GN-2011B-Q-27

We request 2 nights of NIFS + AO time to measure black hole (BH) masses in 4 galaxies selected to provide a vital diagnostic of the distribution of BH mass about the mean Mbh-sigma relation. The galaxies are selected to have the best resolved BH ``spheres of influence" (SOI) predicted by their velocity dispersions. Combined with existing and other proposed measurements this sample will form a statistically complete sample of the best galaxies in the local universe to capture the full distribution of masses. There is concern that observational biases may mean the existing estensive work on BH masses only defines the upper envelope of the BH mass distribution. By focusing on galaxies with predicted large angular SOIs we allow for the greatest range of BH mass at any dispersion to be observed. The observed distribution thereby provides an immediate test of the envelope model.